Russian leader Vladimir Putin will be ready for Donald Trump.
Putin told reporters Thursday he was ready to meet with President-elect Donald Trump during what CNN described as a “marathon” end-of-the-year press conference in Moscow.
During the presser, Putin discussed topics from his country’s war on Ukraine, the fall of his ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and a second Trump administration.
According to CNN, Putin was asked about his plans to speak to or meet with Trump by Keir Simmons with NBC News. In his reply, Putin indirectly disputed reporting from Bob Woodward that he and Trump had spoken as many as seven times since January 2021 – when Trump left office.
Putin said he was “ready” to meet with Trump.
“You asked what we can offer, or what I can offer to the newly elected President Trump when we meet,” Putin told Simmons. “First of all, I don’t know when we will meet. Because he hasn’t said anything about it. I haven’t spoken to him at all in over four years. Of course, I am ready for this at any time, and I will be ready for a meeting if he wants it.”
Trump told a crowd of conservatives at a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix on Sunday that he was ready to meet with Putin to discuss ending the war in Europe.
“President Putin said that he wants to meet with me as soon as possible,” Trump said. “So we have to wait for this, but we have to end that war. That war is horrible, horrible.”
